• • • 2012-2013 CATALOG Table of Contents Wheaton in Profile .................................................................................................................. 1 Undergraduate Student Life ................................................................................................... 17 Undergraduate Admissions ................................................................................................... 29 Undergraduate Academic Policies and Information ................................................................... 36 Special Programs ................................................................................................................. 58 Arts and Sciences Programs .................................................................................................. 68 Conservatory of Music ......................................................................................................... 195 Graduate Academic Policies and Information ......................................................................... 230 Graduate Programs ............................................................................................................ 253 Financial Information ........................................................................................................ 302 Directory ......................................................................................................................... 328 College Calendar ................................................................................................................ 357 Index ............................................................................................................................... 361 This Bulletin is for informational purposes and does not constitute a contract. Wheaton College complies with federal and state requirements for non-discrimination on the basis of handicap, sex, race, color, national or ethnic origin in admission, and access to its programs and activities. The information in the electronic edition of the catalog is accurate as of the revision date noted on the bottom of each page and supersedes previous editions of the catalog. Revision Date: June 1, 2012 Wheaton in Profile College Mission The institutional mission statement expresses the stable and enduring identity of Wheaton College in terms of our reason for existence and our role in society and the church. All the purposes, goals, and activities of the College are guided by this mission. Wheaton College exists to help build the church and improve society worldwide by promoting the development of whole and effective Christians through excellence in programs of Christian higher education. This mission expresses our commitment to do all things "For Christ and His Kingdom." Educational Purpose Committed to the principle that truth is revealed by God through Christ "in Whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge," Wheaton College seeks to relate Christian liberal arts education to the needs of contemporary society. The curricular approach is designed to combine faith and learning in order to produce a biblical perspective needed to relate Christian experience to the demands of those needs. The founders of the College and their successors have consistently maintained that academic excellence and evangelical Christian faith and practice are essential to that purpose. Educational Objectives Undergraduate Program The undergraduate program at Wheaton is intended: To enable students to apprehend truth in their study of Scripture, of nature, and of humanity; to appreciate beauty and order in God's creation and human creativity in the arts and sciences, and to apply those insights to the pursuit of righteousness in the life of both the individual and society; To provide a liberal arts education that acquaints students with the organized fields of learning in the context of a Christian view of nature, of humanity, and of culture through the study of both biblical and general revelation; To assist students to respect, understand, and evaluate the thoughts of others, to express their thoughts clearly and effectively, and to cultivate the lifelong habit of learning; To make available opportunity for concentration and research in one field of learning and to lay foundations for career, graduate, and professional training; To help students understand the meaning of life and their service to society, family, and the church, and to prepare them for the responsible use of their freedom and ability by virtue of their commitment to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; To encourage students to develop priorities and practices that will contribute to their well-being and effectiveness physically, psychologically, socially, and spiritually. These objectives are implemented through carefully planned programs and activities. Because the Scriptures are the integrating core for a Christian liberal arts education, all students take courses in biblical studies, so that they may understand more fully the bearing of Christian faith on life and thought. But that objective of a fully Christian understanding of all of life and thought is not limited to course work in biblical studies. Christian perspectives are brought to bear in all subjects and disciplines. Indeed, the very purpose of a Wheaton College education is to prepare students and alumni to engage the world redemptively for Christ and His Kingdom. This redemptive engagement will take many forms. It involves 1 proclaiming the gospel to a world that does not know or acknowledge Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. It also includes learning from, critiquing, and challenging the major traditions of human learning. Wheaton College does not exist to shelter students from a world hostile to faith in Jesus Christ. On the contrary, the goal is to prepare students to think and behave redemptively as Christians within that world. Thus, the faculty of Wheaton College aspire to be faithful mentors and guides to students as they engage together the full breadth of human thought, including those topics and areas which challenge their faith. The goal in this process is always to help students think as Christians about what they are studying. The College endeavors to maintain high academic standards by encouraging faculty excellence both in teaching and in other scholarly activity, and by encouraging students in independent study, analytic thinking, and the quest for excellence. Although primarily a liberal arts college, Wheaton provides pre-professional study in education, engineering dual degree program, and liberal arts-nursing. The Conservatory of Music offers both a liberal arts degree and several professional degrees (see the Conservatory of Music section). Both secular and religious leaders recognize the importance of a Christian liberal arts education as a preparation for careers in such fields as business and government. When integrated with a committed Christian faith, the broadly based knowledge and the training in analysis and in communication skills of such an undergraduate education prepare the individual for lifelong learning and service, as well as for a variety of careers. Graduate Program The graduate programs of Wheaton College focus on areas of strategic importance to church and society where our historic strengths enable us to make distinctive contributions to the world of Christian higher education. These strengths include clear commitments to the supreme and final authority of the Scriptures, a tradition of excellence in academic pursuits rooted in the liberal arts, and a commitment to bringing Christian faith and learning together in the context of a dynamic community of faith. These carefully planned graduate programs seek to bring Christian belief and perspectives to bear on the needs of contemporary society. Students have the opportunity to work closely with accomplished teacher- scholar-practitioners and, where possible, with accomplished scholar-practitioners outside of Wheaton. We provide academic and professional preparation that will enable the committed Christian student to articulate a biblical and global worldview and to apply it to service for Christ and His Kingdom. The graduate programs are designed to enable our graduate students: To develop an appropriate graduate-level mastery of an academic discipline and of its methods of scholarly inquiry and professional application; To develop a biblical framework for understanding their discipline in order to integrate faith, learning, and practice effectively; To develop interdisciplinary breadth and inquiry through our required study of biblical and theological studies by all students, and through exposure to the broader liberal arts emphases of our academic community; To pursue their own holistic development in the context of this dynamic community of faith in order to better be prepared to serve Christ and His Kingdom throughout the world; To serve effectively in improving society and building the church—locally, nationally, and globally—in their chosen vocations by using critical thinking skills in the disciplines. Since the integrating core of all of our graduate programs is our institutional commitment to grounding academic study in Christian truth (i.e., “integrating faith and learning”), foundational knowledge of the Scriptures is a prerequisite to successful study here. Many students bring rich experience from domestic and global Christian ministry to their graduate studies at Wheaton College, and many Wheaton College graduate